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It was because she was angry.
“I’ve been thinking about it while you were unconscious and in pain.”
She wasn't angry at Priest Vera. She didn't feel any resentment toward Priest Vera for treating her that way.
She was far too used to it. She was angry that the priest had slandered Rahan, but since that was just the kind of person she was, it wasn't particularly strange.
That was why Iris had, surprisingly, even paid her back.
What she was angry at was her own naivety. In a negative sense, of course.
‘That means the two of them haven't had their wedding night yet?’
The knight named Weber had said that while trying to kill Rahan.
What would have happened if Rahan hadn't been strong enough to defeat that knight? Iris felt terrible just thinking about it.
And yet, what had she done when Rahan tried to kill that knight?
She had stopped him, telling him not to kill. It was true that an instinctive repulsion toward Rahan's numbness played the largest part.
‘But was that really all?’
Honestly, it wasn't. The teachings of Eridrahan that one must not kill? I don't know. What use was that in the face of danger?
What if that knight had been stronger than Rahan? No matter how much Iris had stopped him, he would have taken Rahan's life.
Not only that. Because of the moment she stopped him, Rahan had been counterattacked by the knight.
The moment the magical beast appeared, and the moment Rahan pushed her into the wild raspberry bushes.
An ordinary person would have felt helplessness in that moment.
But Iris didn't. That was because she was already helpless.
The moment Rahan was injured.
“I’m sorry. Rahan got hurt because of me….”
Recalling that memory made Iris want to cry. While Rahan was fighting and risking his life, she had been able to do nothing.
Seeing Rahan's back being torn, she had wanted to scream and rush out.
But she couldn't. Hadn't she already realized during the clash with the Achen knight that she would only be a hindrance?
“You must have had a reason for doing it, and you were trying to save me.”
“….”
“I was just in the way.”
Iris sighed. Rahan seemed to be flustered in front of her.
Well, it must be awkward. He couldn't exactly answer, ‘That’s absolutely true!’
“Don't think like that.”
The answer he blurted out after hesitating for a long time was utterly powerless.
Iris forgot what she was going to say and looked at Rahan's face.
Surprisingly, Rahan looked so devoid of strength that it was impossible to believe he was the person who had defeated such a powerful magical beast.
Eventually, Iris couldn't help but laugh.
The stories she had heard about Rahan were, once again, very numerous.
Stories that he was the child of a demon, stories that he was a womanizer who had made countless noble ladies in the Grand Duchy cry.
Even the story that he was so arrogant that he had utterly humiliated the Emperor's illegitimate child, who had fallen for him.
But look at this man before her now.
Rahan Norwich, looking dejected and soaked in water as he gazed at Iris, was surprisingly trivial and tender.
Iris slowly closed the distance between her and Rahan. The warm water rippled with her movement.
“You know. I liked Rahan from the beginning.”
At her sudden words, Rahan's eyes widened.
“I know I haven't known Rahan for long. And you weren't someone I could choose, but….”
“….”
“I like Rahan.”
She had thought her husband was simply a good person. But it wasn't just that. Though it had been a short time, Iris had come to truly like this man.
It wasn't because he saved her life.
The fire in the fireplace, which usually died out at dawn, had not gone out once since the day Iris met Rahan.
While she slept, he would wake up and painstakingly prepare things for Iris to eat.
He spared nothing for Iris, and in return, he cherished her. As if she would wear away if he even touched her.
Iris had already noticed the shyness coloring the tips of his ears when he tried to tell her she was pretty, only to repeatedly correct himself and emphasize that her clothes were pretty.
Auntie Laura, who had been married three times, had said, ‘Men change their faces as easily as they eat meals, so you shouldn't trust them so easily.’
But somehow, Iris felt that he would not change.
A man whose hand holding her was as light as a feather even when he was covered in blood, and who apologized for not being able to listen to Iris's words even after being injured like that.
“Listen, I’m not that good of a guy….”
And yet, a man who mumbled like this in front of her.
Iris smiled brightly and pressed her body against Rahan as if embracing him.
She swore she had never met a man in twenty years. Naturally, she didn't know the first thing about a man's heart.
But for some reason, she could tell.
At least this man's heart right now.
“Uh,”
The man startled and tried to pull back, but well, Iris already knew there was nowhere for Rahan to retreat.
“Rahan could have abandoned me and run away.”
“…I’m not that much of a piece of trash!”
Rahan unintentionally raised his voice, then instantly turned red. Iris whispered softly to him, now only a hand's breadth away.
“Thank you.”
As she spoke, Iris kissed Rahan's wet cheek.
Rahan flinched, but it was useless. Iris had already positioned herself between his legs and was hugging him tightly.
In the hot water, she could feel the man's firm body through the fabric of their clothes.
“Uh, a bit. Iris. I think it would be better if you moved away….”
“And also.”
Iris pulled her lips away and whispered.
“I'm not that clueless.”
“!”
“I told you, Auntie Laura taught me everything.”
The man's face turned a red so deep it looked like it might bleed.
He turned so red that Iris wondered if he was in pain and if she had startled him.
But Iris didn't want to miss this opportunity.
He was a man who had kept his distance the entire time, saying he didn't want to steal her first night like a robber.
If he was intentionally keeping his distance, she could simply approach him.
Hadn't Iris thought so when she first saw him?
This person would be okay.
And so.
Their lips met.
* * *
The fingers touching Rahan's cheek were slender and small.
If Rahan wanted to, he could snap those fingers in an instant with just a small amount of force.
But for some reason, Rahan found it impossible to resist those slender fingers.
Iris's fingers gripped his cheek and pulled him toward her. Their wet lips met. Though his body was submerged in hot water, goosebumps prickled across his skin.
A scar at the corner of his mouth, so old that even Rahan had forgotten it. Iris pressed a light, soft kiss right upon that scar.
Since it had been a severe injury, the sensation should have been duller than elsewhere. Yet, he felt an astonishingly heightened sensitivity.
“When did you get hurt here?”
“That… during the expedition, but more importantly!”
More importantly, move back a bit, just for a second. You're thinking about this all wrong right now…
Those words vanished once again behind Iris's kiss. A body far lighter than his own was sitting atop him, but why?
Rahan simply could not resist. It felt as if he were helplessly bound.
Not only that, but the skin touching him was so soft that he couldn't keep his wits about him.
Of course, it wasn't bare skin. Nevertheless, the sensation felt through the fabric of their clothes was vivid.
Is this body really made of the same stuff as mine?
Simultaneously, an excessively violent urge surged within him. He wanted to grab the arms wrapped around his neck and hold her so tight she might crush.
Whether she knew of Rahan's thoughts or not, Iris continued to peck kisses upon his lips, his cheeks, and his forehead.
“Wait, Iris….”
As he called her name, Rahan felt as if he might faint.
Is this fragile, disgusting, brat-like voice coming from my throat actually my voice?
His voice, changed simply because Iris was embracing him, sounded like that of an addict dazed on drugs.
And yet, why? Far from being terrible, he felt a strangely exhilarating high.
Beyond their touching chests, the sound of a heartbeat was clear.
“Please kiss me.”
Iris whispered. How could he possibly resist that?
He couldn't.
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